“Children Must not Only be Seen But Heard”

Abstract

Abstract This study examined children’s knowledge of child rights, reasons why children’s opinions should be sought or not on matters affecting them, and predictors of children’s knowledge of child rights. A convergent parallel mixed method was used to study children aged 8 to 17. The quantitative data was analysed using spss version 26, while the qualitative data was analysed thematically. The study found that 32.7 per cent knew children have rights. Children being able to form their views on matters and children’s views being perceived as essential in decision making emerged as reasons children need to be consulted during decision making, while children having no responsibility emerged as a reason children should not be consulted. Furthermore, children’s socio-demographic characteristics and access to the internet and information and communication technology devices were significant predictors of children knowing about child rights. These factors should be targeted when designing interventions to promote child rights in Ghana.